Texas 31st district candidate faces backlash over Quran burn video

Valentina Gomez, a Republican candidate for Texas congressional district 31, drew widespread condemnation after posting a campaign-style video on X in which she set fire to a copy of the Quran with a flamethrower and vowed to "end Islam" in Texas. In the clip, posted on Monday and later deleted according to reports, Gomez makes violent and anti-Muslim remarks before igniting the book, a post that drew millions of views and swift backlash across social media and from civil rights advocates.

In the video, Gomez says, "Your daughters will be raped and your sons beheaded unless we stop Islam once and for all," and declares, "America is a Christian nation... so those terrorist Muslims can f off to any of the 57 Muslim nations. There is only one true God, and that is the God of Israel," before burning the Quran. The post included a caption stating, "I will end islam in Texas so help me God," and framed her actions as part of a campaign pledge. Gomez later defended the stunt in a follow-up post, writing, "I stand by my actions. I will never bend a knee to the book that is responsible for the massacre of October 7th," according to screenshots and reports.